


Carpe Noctu

by burningcas



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, shingeki no kyojin (attack on titan)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Attempt at Humor, BAMFs, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eren Is a Little Shit, Levi is a Little Shit, M/M, Scent Marking, Supernatural Elements, Vampire Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), awkward!levi, eren has a potty mouth when he's mad, eren is human, everyone is a little shit ok, idk why i need to tag those i mean it is a vampire fic, oh wow another creature fic so predictable, these vampires are not dainty bloodsuckers ok, they are literally animals of prey and that's how i wrote them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:23:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5740069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burningcas/pseuds/burningcas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For most of his life, Eren was considered average. Average grades, average hobbies, average job, and an average apartment. There were never many hiccups in his life and things were generally pretty normal. When big things happened, they would usually happen to someone close to him, so he got a taste of what excitement was vicariously through his friends. He never expected he would see the day when something not-so-average happened to him. And he certainly never expected for it to be so extremely abnormal.</p><p>After nearly becoming a meal to a monster straight out of legend, Eren meets Levi, a mysterious and powerful vampire. After learning that the two of them are being hunted by the Coven leader, Eren has to leave his ordinary life behind in order to protect him and the ones he cares about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Inceptum Finis

**Author's Note:**

> *4 months later* Oops I'm back
> 
> sorry I'm staring a new fic when I'm already writing two others, I've just had this plot in my head for a really long time now and I just want to get it out there already.
> 
> I don't know when I'll update OMAM or YTEJ, but yea
> 
> \--  
> my tumblr: r-ebelcas.tumblr.com

For most of his life, Eren was considered average. Average grades, average hobbies, average job, and an average apartment. There were never many hiccups in his life and things were generally pretty normal. When big things happened, they would usually happen to someone close to him, so he got a taste of what excitement was vicariously through his friends. He never expected he would see the day when something not-so-average happened to him. And he certainly never expected for it to be so extremely abnormal.

It first started when he clocked out and locked up the small diner he worked as a manager at. The sun had been set for at least 7 hours now as it was about 1:00 in the morning. Crickets sang by the lake behind the diner and the brisk night air was still. The few trees that were around were bare, cold, and dead, their leaves in an unkempt pile at their bases. The moon was only about half full; still not enough light without street lamps.

Eren shrugged his coat closer to him when he stepped outside, the difference of temperatures from inside the restaurant and outside sending a shiver through him. The deadbolt sealed with solid noise, firmly planting the door in place. He turned away from the door and started heading out to his small car. It was the only one in the parking lot at this point, but he could see it because of the light he parked under.

His boots crunched along the asphalt as he walked the distance of the parking lot. As he neared his car, he stopped by the driver’s side, trying to find the key amongst his jumbled key chains. Locating it, he stuck it in the lock on the door and turned it.

But then he stopped. He stood still as he listened. It was silent; even the crickets had stopped. He looked to the diner, to the road in front of him, and then to his left. All that was to the left of him was a small section of a big forest. It was separated from the vast void of trees by a highway, but other than that, there was nothing else. He squinted into the darkness, the light directly above him making it difficult to focus. He only noticed them when they moved, but when they did he could make out two, small, silver dots. Almost like cat eyes. They peered at him for a spilt second before they were gone. They moved so fast, Eren almost didn’t believe they were really there.

He nearly shrugged it off as a deer, or something, but a horror-stricken cry ripped through the night, the scream coming from the woods. The scream made Eren jump and his heart-rate spike for a moment before it was clouded out by a sudden adrenaline rush. He was still until another cry, this one the same intensity, reverberated from the mass of trees. Eren moved automatically, his keys forgotten in the lock of his door, and bolted into the forest.

Leaves and sticks crunched loudly beneath his fast feet. He used them to slide quickly down a small decline in the earth until he reached the bottom. His heart hammered in his ears, but he listened around it to try and hear any other noises out there.

Another scream, this one less enthusiastic, broke out to the left of him, leading him deeper into the woods. It was so dark he could barely make out the detail of the darkly barked trees, let alone try to dodge them as he hurried along. He was cursing himself as he ran, but he wouldn’t feel right if it was someone needing help and the had just left them out here. Calling the police seemed sensible, but he was too invested at this point.

He listened as he ran, and he was close enough now to hear scuttling of something heavy rolling on the ground. Following that, he navigated until he saw something.

It was a woman. She was on her side, looking as if she was trying to crawl but not doing a very good job at it. She wore a white nightgown, the color of it reflecting light off of it. Eren rushed over to her and he was able to see the full extent of her. Her pale arms and legs were covered in gashes and cuts, the blood making some of the dry leaves stick to her. Her long, dark hair was a complete mess, and parts of her nightgown were shredded. The wounds on her arms made it look as if she tried fending off whatever did this to her.

Eren hurried over to her, and kneeled. She looked up at him with a scratched up face and tear-stained eyes.

“Hey, are you okay?” Eren asked. He mentally slapped himself, of course she wasn’t okay. She only responded with a whimper. He helped her to sit up slowly, using the tree she was against as rest. More slashes and cuts lined her chest and neck, but the dark made it difficult for Eren to fully see how bad she was hurt.

“Can you tell me your name?” he inquired.

“H-Hannah,” she whispered hoarsely. Her head was beginning to loll slightly, so Eren supported it with his hand, keeping it somewhat upright.

“Okay, it’s gonna be alright, Hannah, I’m going to help you out of here, deal?” Eren wanted to get out of there quickly in case the thing that did this to her came back. He lifted her shoulders off from the tree as he started to wrap his arm around her. Until she leaned forward, resting her face into the crook of Eren’s shoulder and neck. She lifted up her bloodied arms and wrapped them around Eren’s neck. He froze momentarily, not really knowing how to react to this situation. Figuring she was just trying to make it easier for him to lift her, he continued on and took his free and slid it underneath her knees.

Her face was cold against his skin, making him wonder how long she had been out there. He got into a crouch to lift her up, but was stopped once again when he felt her lips graze his neck, hovering over his warm skin. Her arms closed tighter around him and she pressed her nose to the bottom of Eren’s jaw.

Eren tried to will himself to move, but that proved futile when all of his joints locked up as soon as he felt her lick a stripe up from his throat to the back of his ear. He was positive his face was red by now, and his heart was accelerating for a whole other reason than the adrenaline. He felt her slide her hand onto the back of his head, her nails combing through his hair.

“Uh-“ he tried to start with a weak voice, but was cut off from her tugging on the back of his head, making him look a tad bit up. She sat up from Eren’s supporting arm and sat so they were face to face. She stared him down with her dark eyes, her thin, angled eyebrows in a set in a suggestive manner. The stripe she had licked on his neck turned cold from the air, but was now warming up from his hammering pulse.

She parted her full lips slightly, and Eren found himself enraptured in the small movement. Noticing this, she put a finger under his chin and pushed it up until he was looking back at her.

His mind began to get fuzzy. He didn’t really remember what he was trying to do, he didn’t really know where he was exactly any more. All he was really focusing on was how the dark haired woman leaned in closer, never breaking eye-contact, tilted her head, and slotted her lips with Eren’s.

He didn’t move, or more, he _couldn’t_ move. Every fiber of his being seemed lethargic, like cement was poured into his veins. He couldn’t feel the cold air any more. All he could still fully feel was her tongue parting Eren’s lips further and it delving into Eren’s mouth.

Not a single coherent thought was going through Eren. It was like he wasn’t present, but rather just being a spectator through his own eyes. If he was able to think, he’d probably be questioning why he was making out with a cut up stranger at 1:00 in the morning in the middle of the woods. But instead, it felt like cotton had been shoved into his head, making his brain just one big pile of mush.

She pulled away, her eyes wide and open when Eren began to sluggishly open his. Her gaze hooked onto Eren’s. Her mouth broke apart into a toothy grin that stretched her face.

And by toothy, there were several, dark, large teeth filling up the gaps in her grin. They all slotted together and each came to sickening curve, almost like a sickle. The blood drained from Eren’s face as he watched the woman’s face morph into something that was _certainly_ not human. Black filled her eyes, the same shade as her teeth, and her nose and mouth morphed into something that resembled more a cat than anything.

All at once the drugged feeling left Eren in one cold sweep. He tore from her grasp, falling back onto his hands. His eyes widened in horror as he watched her small, petite hands, change into claws. There was no distinction between finger and claw, because each of her fingers ended in a curved, shiny point, the fingers as dark as the rest of her features.

Eren started to shuffle backwards as fast as he could, not yet finding the strength in his legs to get up and run away. She opened her mouth wide enough to make it seem like it had just dislocated from its socket.

A noise that sounded like a yowling cat and a dinosaur from Jurassic Park combined ripped from her throat, jolting Eren to his feet. He turned fast enough to make himself dizzy, and he tore through the dead foliage on the forest floor. He tripped over his feet several times before righting himself once more. Once he had started running from the woman, he could hear another screech and then the ground beneath her getting ripped up from her claws as she chased Eren.

Eren’s feet hit the ground as fast as his heart hummed. Branches and other various objects slammed into Eren’s body like small whips. He could already feel a cut on his cheek starting to bleed. After a few more turns, he made it back to the small incline and began to dig into the hard earth with his hands trying to climb up it. Behind him, he heard the woman make an almost laughing noise, as if she was amused at his fight for life.

He could see the light from the street lamp just over the edge by now. He threw an elbow over an exposed root and started to pull himself up. He just managed to throw the rest of his body over before his pant leg was caught by one of the creature’s claws and ripped off.

His heart continued its breakneck pace, and he was starting to feel dizzy from the constant high of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Eren got to his feet and took a couple steps before a burning pain wrapped around Eren’s leg. He fell with a pained cry from the anchored grasp and twisted around so that he was on his back. The woman had one of her claw-hands hooked into Eren’s ankle and calf, pulling him closer to her. He blinked away the tears from the pain and started to flail. This only made the pain in his leg worse, but it made it more difficult for the woman to grab onto him anywhere else.

She pushed down on his leg, an irritated growl rumbling from her throat. Blood gushed from his leg and onto his pants, and Eren’s mouth opened in a silent scream of pain. The creature opened its mouth again, each of its black, sickle teeth glinting from the street lamp’s dim light.

As terror clawed its way through Eren, he yelled out in determination and brought his free knee back before kicking forward with all the strength he had left and bashed in the woman’s face. He could hear and feel a crunch under his shoe before the woman let out a high-pitched, pained screech. She still didn’t let go of Eren, but in the split moment that she threw her head back from the impact, Eren gritted his teeth and twisted his whole body, his leg ripping from her grasp.

He cried out again, tears burning his eyes, but he got up all the same. With each step, he felt his pant leg getting more and more heavy with blood, but he ran just as fast as he was before. The creature screamed out once it realized its prey had escaped, and she chased after him again, her claws raking the hard dirt.

Eren was finally able to see the parking lot, so he pushed forward with what little strength he had left and broke through the line of trees. He fell towards his car, luckily landing on the hood of it. He tried to scramble to the driver’s door, but his feet kept falling out from under him. He could hear the distinct scraping of her talons on the asphalt behind him.

The breath was knocked out from him when she launched herself at his back, making him slam into the ground. Before she was just toying with him, now she was getting angry. His head rang from the impact, and he squinted his eyes from the sudden pain in his head. He could feel her cold breath dripping down the back of his neck as she lowered her face closer to him. He stayed still, even when she let loose another ear-splitting screech right next to his face.

Her claws dug securely into his shoulders, latching herself onto him. Eren cried out quieter this time. He could feel her breath move from his face to the back of his neck. He slammed his eyes closed, waiting for the oncoming _crunch_ of her teeth on his spine.

That was until her weight was suddenly torn from Eren’s back and he could breathe again. He scrambled up into a sitting position scooted back until his back hit the cold metal of his car.

The woman let out a disgruntled yowl and quickly got to her feet to face whatever had just interrupted her meal.

A person stood slightly hunched over in front of the woman-creature. Their hands were curled like claws, but they had human hands (for which Eren was glad). He couldn’t see the person’s face because they wore a dark hoodie, and they had the hood up.

The person was still even when the woman’s eyes bulged from her head and spat at them like a cat. The woman lunged at the stranger, her claws out and teeth gnashing. Eren was afraid he was going to see the stranger get torn to pieces right in front of him, but instead of getting horribly maimed, the stranger simply span on their heel, dodging the attack like it was nothing.

Eren could’ve gotten into his car, called the cops, or something, but any energy he had was gone and he was locked up in fear, anyhow.

The woman’s talons sparked against the asphalt as she veered back onto her target. She bellowed out a growl and ran at the stranger once more. But she missed once more from the stranger jumping straight into the air. Eren’s eyes widen at the jump. They had to have jumped at least 10 feet into the air.

And as they came back down, they landed with the lightness of a feather and grace of a cat. Their boots didn’t even make a noise when they hit the ground again. Instead of waiting for the woman to make another move, the stranger suddenly went on the offence and bolted at her. They were so fast, if Eren had blinked, he would’ve missed it.

They barreled into the woman, knocking her over. They woman let out a surprised yelp when she hit the ground. Just as fast as they reached her, the stranger grabbed onto the ground and twisted themselves around and latched themselves onto the woman’s back. Without warning, the stranger yanked the woman’s head to the side and tore into her neck with their (seemingly human) teeth. The woman fell to her knees but not before letting out a godawful howl.

The blood that gushed from her now open neck looked black, but Eren couldn’t tell if it was because of the darkness of the night or not. Eren could see the stranger bare their now bloodied teeth as they wrapped their arms and hands over the woman’s head.

With a simple _snap_ the stranger tore the woman’s head clean off of her body with their bare hands.

They jumped off and was flat footed on the ground before the woman’s body landed flat on the cement. Eren’s face was frozen in disgust and horror as he watched blood pour from the stump above her shoulders.

The stranger just stood there, their eyes shaded from their hood. In their right hand they held the woman’s head by her long, dark hair. Blood dripped from their chin.

Eren’s eyes raked up the person, his heart thrumming once more. The stranger simply threw the head onto the body, but it rolled off to sit on the ground next to it. What happened next was so unexpected, Eren yelped in surprise.

It started on the head, but a clear flame burst into existence. It was clear like glass, and just as see-through, but as the whole head and body of the woman caught on with it, Eren could still feel the heat from it as if it were normal fire. The stranger simply put their hands in the pockets of their hoodie and watched it burn, the white light from the flames illuminating only the bottom half of their face. Just as quickly as it started, the flames burnt up all evidence the woman was ever there, instead only leaving a faint burn mark on the parking lot.

Eren watched cautiously as the stranger then turned their attention to Eren. Eren’s breath shuddered as he forced through his mouth. The person took their hands out of their pockets and made their way over to Eren where he was still sitting against his car.

“N-no, please,” Eren begged. His voice was weak and broke slightly at the end. Terror spiked up throughout him once more. He stumbled to his feet, leaning on the car for support. His hand fumbled around for the car handle, but his hands were shaking so bad, he wouldn’t have been able to grab it even if he wanted to.

The stranger said nothing and didn’t hesitate. Within 3 long strides, they were already to Eren. The brunet could feel tears of fright claw at the back of his eyes and the thrumming of his gashed up leg. The person reached out for him, eliciting a whimper as Eren closed his eyes and cowered away.

The only thing the person did to Eren was touch the side of his neck before feeling their nails sink in just beneath the skin. He gasped before he felt all consciousness leave him. He could feel the coldness of the stranger as he slumped forward onto them.


	2. In Umbra, Igitur, Pugnabimus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the feedback so far!
> 
> \--  
> my tumblr: r-ebelcas.tumblr.com

Eren woke up to a tingling in his skin. It felt almost electric and intensified whenever he moved. His head swam, but not in a painful way. His eyes burned and felt swollen and his throat felt mucus-y, much to Eren’s slight disgust.

He pulled himself up into a sitting position with a groan. Bright, autumn sun filtered in through his plain curtains, making his eyes squint. He looked down at himself. He was clad in a plain, grey t-shirt and sweatpants.

Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head, the feeling of heavy sleep becoming less now. The alarm clock next to his bed said 9:12, but Eren wasn’t too concerned since he only had night shifts this week. His blankets slid off of him as he stood. He padded through his small apartment to the kitchen. Silhouettes of trees and birds showed on the drawn curtains of the two windows in his living room.

As he walked into the little, combined room, he snatched up the remote to his tv, switching it on to the news. He stood there for a moment, listening to the story that was being reported on. His attention was on the tv before a large shadow quickly slid across Eren’s windows, its silhouette blocking out the sun for a split second.

Eren jolted and looked to the window. Birds still dancing along the trees and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

“Big ass bird,” Eren mumbled to himself under his breath. Shaking it off, he twisted around into his kitchenette. He went about his usual routine, making a pot of coffee and pouring himself a sugary bowl of cereal. He plopped down on his couch with his breakfast, eating automatically while paying attention to the tv.

He spooned another bite but stopped when he heard his phone ring. It buzzed and sang out on his countertop, making Eren’s brow furrow with confusion. He always put his phone in his room.

Eren put his half-eaten bowl of cereal on the small side table by the couch and got to his feet, making his way to his phone. It showed a text notification, which prompted Eren to open it.

**Armin:** _Hey, are you still on for later?_

Eren looked down at the screen in confusion.

**Eren:** _why whats happening later?_

**Armin:** _Mikasa’s back in town. Remember?_

Eren’s eyes widen and his mouth made and o shape in remembrance. Mikasa was Eren’s half-sister. She had gone off to a marine boot camp about roughly four months back, and Armin had wanted to get together once she got back.

**Eren:** _oh right, where did you want to meet?_

**Armin:** _Ziggy’s, we’ll get lunch._

**Eren:** _sounds good_

**Armin:** _Awesome!_

Eren clicked his phone to blackness and put it back down on the counter where he found it, next to his wallet and keys; stuff that he usually just kept in his coat. Not noticing this, he went to finish his cereal and continue on with his day.

-+-

Main street was fairly busy for a Sunday. People milled about through different stores and shops. It was a fairly nice day for the middle of autumn; the sun was out, few cloud blotted the sky and the breeze was kept to a minimum. People were still bundled up in coats and scarves, however.

Eren walked the cobblestone path that separated two walls of shops. He was wearing an old pull-over hoodie, his hands jammed in his pockets. For the life of him, he couldn’t find his coat this morning, no matter where he looked. And he looked everywhere. So, he was stuck with a big hoodie and a beanie in an attempt to stay warm today. It was no big bother for him at the moment, however as he neared the little café Armin told him to go to.

The bell above the door tinged as he stepped in. Feeling in his face started to return from the warmth of the inside, and he suppressed a shiver. There weren’t too many people inside, Eren figure he had either beat the lunch rush or just missed it.

The table to the left of him by the window was occupied two people. The blonder of the duo looked up at Eren and waved enthusiastically. The darker haired one turned their head to look at Eren from behind them. Eren smiled and walked over to them, taking a seat next to his sister.

“Hey, ‘kasa,” Eren greeted, wrapping his sister in a hug.

“Where’s your coat?” she asked. Eren suppressed an eye-roll. Of course the first thing she would say to him was motherly-like.

“I couldn’t find it. Probably just misplaced it. I don’t know it’s been one of those days, you know?” Eren responded, unconsciously straightening out his hoodie.

“Mikasa was just talking about camp,” Armin filled in Eren after he took a drink from his hot cocoa.

“Yeah, how was that?” Eren could feel the change Mikasa went through just by hugging her; her arms were solid, even more than before, and her grip was sound.

Mikasa went on to talk about her marine camp experience. The trio easily fell into a casual comfortable space. They had been friends since kindergarten, and it was safe to say that they were best friends. They conversed and joked (several heads turned to their table when Armin let out a loud snort from one of Mikasa’s sarcastic remarks). They sat there for a while, catching up, even though Mikasa hadn’t been gone that long. Many people came and left, the sun was setting quicker now due to the time and fall season.

Eren was enjoying himself. He had missed talking to his sister and Armin all together like this, and he was appreciative of meeting up with them. But the entire time he was there, maybe ever since he stepped foot out of his apartment, he felt as if he was being watched. Almost as if he was being trailed. He didn’t think much of it. He had woken up feeling strange, so this was probably just part of the weirdness of the day. But it was still something that gnawed at the back of his mind.

Later on, after they figured they had over-stayed in the café, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa went to walking around, milling about different stores and watching a few of the street performers. The sun was just hanging on above the horizon, making the lamps turn on, illuminating the plaza. They slowly walked down the wide cobblestone path.

Eren still couldn’t shake the being watched feeling, but now it felt as if someone was following him. Noticing his shifty eyes, Mikasa looked at him.

“What’s up?” she inquired.  Eren’s head whipped over to her, not expecting to be asked a question.

“Hmm? Ah- nothing. Why?”

“You just seem a little jumpy,” she pointed out. Armin was also interested in her questions as well.

“It’s probably nothing.” Eren looked down to his feet, his hands curling together in his pocket.

“ _Probably_ nothing?” she said in her mama-bear voice. Eren was quiet for a beat trying to put it into words.

“Do you ever just get that feeling of, like, I don’t know, someone watching you, or something?” He kicked a little pebble with the toe of his shoe. Both Mikasa and Armin gave him strange looks.

“What did you get yourself into, Eren?”

“No, no,” Eren raised his hands in a pacifying way, “it’s not anything like that. Just all day today I felt eyes on the back of my head.” Eren sighed through his nose, shaking his head. He looked around one more time just to make sure.

“Everyone gets that sometimes, Eren, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Armin supplied. Eren rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

“Yeah.”

-+-

After they had wandered for a while more, watched some street magicians perform and talked more about life, they said their goodbyes and headed home. Eren hadn’t bothered driving his car to meet them since he lived within walking distance, so he began his little trek home.

The roads were bustling with cars, their headlights casting long shadows as they drove past. Some people here and there walked the sidewalks with Eren, but he didn’t pay much attention to them. Until he noticed one following him. At first he pushed it off as paranoia, and he remembered what Armin said about it being nothing. He figured he was just over-analyzing it into something out of proportion.

But every time Eren would peek around his shoulder in the most non-discreet way, he couldn’t make out the strangers face from the darkness from the night, even when they passed under lights or walked past headlights.

Eren could feel his hands become clammy in his pocket when he curled his fists together. Sparks of anxiety licked up his ribcage and started to give his heart and irregular beat. He swallowed heavily and tried to stick to more populated places to get home.

The crescendo of his panic began when his complex was in the line of sight. His gate was wide and his steps fast. His shoes slapped against the cement, but he couldn’t hear the other’s.

Making it to the parking lot, he nearly ran up to the outside hallway where his door was located. Instead of fumbling for his keys and risked getting shanked by the determined pursuer, he rounded the corner and laid his back flat against the wall.

The shadow of the other person was the only give away of their approach. As soon as Eren could see beginnings of the person’s stride, he whipped around the corner, grabbed the front of the stranger’s shirt with both hands, and flipped them back around to slam the person into the wall back first.

“Why are you following me?” Eren shouted at them. Before he could register the person’s features, the stranger slammed their forearms onto Eren’s wrists and slipped out of Eren’s grasp. Suddenly, and all at once, he found himself being smashed into the same wall he had just pushed the other into. His arms were tangled behind him in a rather painful lock being held together by one of the stranger’s cold hands, while the other was gripping the back of Eren’s neck and holding his face down on the wall.

He could hear a disgruntled huff behind him. Eren was stunned for a second, still trying to compute what just happened. He blinked before he realized how vulnerable of a position he was in.

“H-hey, I’ll give you whatever you want, just please don’t hurt me,” Eren tried bargaining. The person was silent, but he could feel that same feeling when the stranger bored a hole into his head with their eyes. From where he was, Eren couldn’t make out anything of the other person except for their shoes, which were planted firmly onto the ground.

They were quiet as if trying to come up with what to do with Eren, and Eren’s breath began to quicken not out of Eren’s volition. His heart hammered in his throat, and he was certain that the stranger could feel it while he gripped Eren’s neck.

“Look, man, I don’t know what you want but-“

“Shut up,” the stranger’s words were as cold as his skin and the curiously deep tone resonated through Eren’s bones. His hand tightened around his neck.

“Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I can do that. I can be quiet if that’s what yo-“

“ _Shut. Up_.” The man’s voice almost sounded like a growl when he spoke right against Eren’s ear. He could feel the pressure on his arms lighten just the tiniest bit, as if the stranger was looking around the corner and into the parking lot. Quickly, he turned back to Eren. “Give me your keys,” he whispered.

Eren nodded as much as he could with the rough wall digging into his cheek. The stranger let one arm go just enough for him to reach into his pocket and take out his keys. He held them out for a second before they were snatched from his hand.

The stranger then lifted Eren off of the wall, his grip like a vice, and started quickly walking him to Eren’s apartment door. In one quick movement, he unlocked it, pushed Eren inside, closed the door behind him and locked them both inside.

_Great,_ Eren thought, _I’m going to be a hostage in my own home._

The stranger finally let go of him with a slight push. Eren slowly turned around to look at them.

He was dressed in a black unzipped hoodie and black jeans. His hair seemed darker than it probably was against his pale skin. The features of his face were sharp, but not as sharp as the look in his eyes when he looked at Eren. They were pale as well, the irises almost blending into the whites of his eyes, but were bordered by grey.

Eren must have looked pathetic while he stood frozen in his living room. His eyes never left the man’s while the stranger pulled up the sleeves of his hoodie to his elbows.

“Get into your room, lock the door, and don’t come out no matter what you hear,” the stranger spoke evenly.

“What? Why?” Eren scrambled.

“Do you want to die?” the man raised his voice at him.

“N-no, not really.”

“Then do as I say. Now.”

Eren swallowed heavily and cowered away to his room. He quickly did what he was told, the lock uttering out a quiet _click_ as he turned it. Eren backed away from his door, his ears straining to hear beyond into the other room. Eren figured the guy was just robbing him until he heard scratching and heavy banging on his metal front door.

Eren gasped and jumped back from the first impact. There were 3 total loud hits before they stopped. All he could hear was his own breath.

Then, a noise so loud it shook the ground, he could hear his front door getting bashed in, the wood of the frame splintering and the heavy metal door slamming to the ground. The noises didn’t stop after that. He heard loud thumping, smashing, and grunts (and _growls?_ ) come from living room. At that moment, Eren was glad that he lived on the ground floor. The ground shook with every impact. He heard shattering which made him flinch.

 Finally, after what felt like forever, he heard one last growl and then the loudest shatter. It was silent after that. Eren was shaking as he tried to listen for any other noises. His steps were cautious and unsure as he slowly approached his door. His hand shook as it unlocked it and gripped onto the knob. His hand twisted with a snail’s pace until he felt the click to his door opening. The door squeaked when he haltingly opened it.

His apartment was still dark; the lights never being turned on. His breath stilled in his chest as he took quiet steps across the carpeted hallway. He braced himself for the full destruction that he heard his apartment go through, but his jaw still dropped anyway.

His door lay flat on the ground, the side that had been beaten on from the outside was dented. His dining table only stood on one and a half legs, while the couple chairs he had were shattered and scratched up. The light that hung above his used-to-be-table was demolished, with glass everywhere. There were long and deep scratches in the plaster of his walls, along with a torso sized hole punched out of a wall. Part of his counter was snapped off and the little table by his couch was gone; Eren literally couldn’t find it. The window to the left of the room was shattered as well, just leaving a hole to the outside. Breeze filtered in, making the curtains dance lightly. Drops of blood stained his carpet and a smears of it was on his walls.

The stranger stood in the middle of the room, his body turned to the broken window. His chest heaved as he panted. His hair was mussed up. From where he was, Eren could see his arms littered with nicks and scratches, along with the occasional bite here and there. A bigger cut was on his cheekbone. Dark blood stained the bottom and corners of his mouth, as well as his nails.

When Eren walked in, the man’s head whipped around. He almost didn’t look the same. His eyes seemed lighter, almost reflective, and the grey that used to edge out his eyes looked red. His mouth was parted slightly, his lips stained with the dark liquid. His eyes locked onto Eren’s instantly, making Eren freeze on the spot. He felt like a deer in headlights.

The man looked away, turning his head away from Eren so that he couldn’t see his face. He took in one last big breath and exhaled it before finally looking back. His face looked less feral now, and his eyes were how Eren had remembered them. The man just stood there and watched Eren, as if waiting for him to make a move.

Eren took a step forward and was about to say something, when suddenly the man ran to the window, seemingly in one stride, and launched himself out the opening. Eren ran over, his shoes crunching broken glass into his carpet, and he peered out his window.

There was no one there.


	3. Inter Vivos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a bit shorter, I just had to end it sooner than later.
> 
> \--  
> my tumblr: r-ebelcas.tumblr.com

Colorful swears and stomping of feet filled the ruins of Eren’s apartment. When he turned around from the window and saw the mess that he had to clean up (not to mention _pay_ for) he let out a quite loud and pent up “Fuck!”

Now, he was on his hands and knees trying to pick out the ground up pieces of glass out of his carpet. His vacuum started to make an odd noise halfway into the job, so he figured the amount of glass and broken shards of furniture everywhere had finally done it in.

He had previously leaned his poor, broken door against the splintered doorframe, in hopes of trying to keep out some of the cold.

Eren muttered curses and swears out from under his breath the entire time. His fingers and palms were all cut up from the glass, and he swore he had just sat into a mass of splinters. His carpet looked like hell, but, somehow, his walls were even worse. After he had given up trying to fully rid the floor of the poky things, he started going at the now stained and hole-ridden walls. He had out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a bucket of water, and he furiously scrubbed at the dark stains with a sponge.

Only one, little lamp was on to light up what Eren was doing, since all the other ones got caught in the line of destruction. The apartment office closed at 8:00, and it was already around 10:00, so calling them was out of the question. Rage and irritation seemed to roll off of Eren in waves. He had to take off his hoodie a while back just from how worked up he got. He was mostly pissed off at the fact that he had let some stranger into his house, let him trash the place like this, and then he just fucking _left_.

He scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, but whatever this was on his walls just wouldn’t come off. He tried dish soap, water, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, but nothing would make it come fully off. His arms hurt, and his head began to pound from the influx of negative emotion.

Eventually, he just let out a heavy, woe-ridden sigh and rested his forehead against the wall. The cold from outside leaked in through the hole where the window used to be, wrapping around him. He slunk to the floor and leaned up against it, his gaze automatically going to the ceiling.

At first he didn’t see it, it was so dark, but after he looked for a while, it began to take shape into something. It was a symbol of sorts, written in, what look like, black ink. It was simply just a circle with a plus shape going through it. His brow scrunched when he discovered it. Heaving himself up, Eren took the only chair that wasn’t torn to shit and pulled it underneath the symbol. It was a good size, maybe as big as Eren’s arm, and it looked as if it was drawn in whatever was on his walls as well, but somehow different. He raised a hand a touched it. When he did a visible spark sprung from the contacted part of the symbol and sent a burning shock through Eren’s arm.

He hissed and recoiled quickly.  His hand buzzed from the strange, but painful, feeling. He wanted to touch it again, but knew that the same thing would just happen again. Eren breathed out a defeated sigh. Leaving the chair in the middle of the floor, he dragged his feet down to the hallway. He walked straight into his opened room, walked over to the foot of the bed, and threw himself down face first.

He’d just deal with it in the morning.

-+-

Eren woke with a start. So much so, that he nearly fell off his bed. He knew he had dreamt last night, but the details were fuzzy. The thing that made him wake up was the feeling of his leg getting caught in something, and being pulled back.

He sniffled and rolled onto his back. He was still wearing the clothes he went to bed in, and he hadn’t really moved either. It was still dark out, but very weak, pale early morning light filtered in through the open window in his room. Eren sat up.

Why was his window open?

He looked around his room, trying to scope out anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing, he eased his legs off the bed, and stood, the springs in the mattress groaning as he did. His steps were light and quiet as he sneaked up on the open window. Eren didn’t know what he was expecting, but after his previous experience, he wanted to be ready for anything. He looked out, his eyes quickly adjusting to the low light. The morning was calm; one or two cars were out and the birds had all gone to sleep, letting the world rest.

Stepping away, Eren closed his window. His bedroom door was still open from earlier, the little lamps’ light barely reaching the hallway. Eren tip-toed to his closet, trying to be as quiet as possible. He reached for the door knob and flinched when it creaked while opening. He blindly felt around for the cold handle of his aluminum bat. Locating it, he wrapped his fingers around it securely and brought it higher, ready to swing at any other intruders.

The carpet cushioned his feet, making him walk out and down the hallway silently. The bat was now held above his shoulder. He paid attention to any shadows that may have been coming from the front room.

As he neared the corner, he hesitated, readied himself, and then slowly walked out of the hallway.

His shoulders slumped when he saw no one in his house. The only visibly peculiar thing, however, was the cleanliness of his apartment. He lowered the bat as he looked around. The small glass shards and various splintered wood were gone, his broken table was laid out neatly against the wall, and the completely demolished chairs were gone. His glared at the wall when he saw the black smears were gone.

Eren walked around his cleaned apartment. Not much was going through his still sleepy mind other than;

“What in the _hell_?”

His voice was quiet as it was a thought that he didn’t really mean to voice. The bat hit the floor and Eren ran his hands through his hair. He stared at nothing for a second before letting out an airy chuckle. The mixture of several different emotions made laughter bubble up in Eren. His laughter turned into a groan while he covered his face with his hands. Air pushed from Eren’s lungs as he exhaled loudly and he laid in the middle of the floor.

He flopped his arms out wide, the backs of them resting on the floor as well. The odd symbol was still on his ceiling, but had faded significantly. Eren had literally thought he was going crazy, that maybe there never was a person with him in his apartment, and that maybe he had just had a little psychotic break and trashed his apartment.

But that thought quickly left his head when he spotted two, gleaming dots in the corner of the room. He promptly shot up and had started to scoot back before he realized what he was doing.

The two dots were the only thing distinguishable from the oddly placed, black mass in the corner. They hung where the two walls and ceiling met, staring down at him from above. They blinked only once while they watched Eren push himself against the opposite wall.

They both stared each other down for what felt like hours, but was only mere moments before the black mass began to move. It started to move and form into something more noticeable, or maybe it just came into light, Eren wasn’t too sure. But the first thing Eren saw descending from the darkness a booted foot, then a leg, until there were two legs. The rest just fell. The person shot down to the ground, their knees bending ever so slightly from landing on the ground. They made no noise when they landed.

Eren’s face dropped when he saw who they were.

“ _You_.” Eren growled it as if the word was derogatory. The raven-haired man rolled his eyes before letting them rest on Eren. The man from earlier stood in the middle of Eren’s house like he owned the place, making Eren’s skin prickle with irritation. The man was cleaned up; none of the previous wounds were visible and the blood from his mouth was gone, leaving his skin annoyingly perfect. Eren glared up at the stranger, his eyes never leaving his as he stood again.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming back here,” Eren spat. The man said nothing, but Eren could see his chest do a small heave when his sighed silently. “Who the hell are you, anyway. What do you want?” Eren’s voice started to raise. The man was quiet before he spoke, his voice still echoing through Eren’s bones.

“Do you remember last night?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Eren quietly yelled, “you tore my apartment to shit and then left!”

“No, the night before,” the man said quickly after, seeming irritated. Eren faltered. He never really thought about it, but no, he really didn’t.

Noticing the blank look on Eren’s face, the man had an exasperated look while he rolled his eyes yet again. Then the man flipped up his hood, the fabric covering up the top half of his face. The familiarity of it made everything come rushing back to Eren. The night, the woods, the woman, _him._ Eren involuntarily let out a little gasp and he started backing up again.

“You.”

“Yes, I believe we got that out of the way already.”

“No, I- why-who- What the fuck was that thing?” Eren shouted. The images of the creature’s stretched out features and black teeth flashed in his mind. The man dropped his hood again.

“You were attacked by an Aufhocker.”

“A what-now?”

“An Aufhocker.”

“What did you call me?”

“What? No-,” the man growled a little, “an Auf- _hocker_ ,” he sounded out slower, annunciating the ‘h’ sound. Was that supposed to be a bombshell for Eren? He sure didn’t know.

“Okay?” he shrugged his shoulders, hoping the man would go on.

“It’s a German shapeshifting vampire.”

The man said it so bluntly that Eren almost just looked past what he said. He narrowed his eyes and tried to back-track.

“Did you just say-“

“Vampire? Yes.”

Eren was quiet momentarily until he started chuckling, which soon turned into loud, buoyant laughter. He bent over, clutching his stomach, his laughter rolling around the room in waves. He couldn’t see the stranger grit his teeth at Eren’s reaction.

“Hoo,” Eren stood back up, wiping a few tears from his eyes, “thanks for that, I needed it,” Eren looked at the wall, chuckling a bit more. “Vampires,” he shook his head, a stupid grin on his face. Eren finally looked back to the man who had his arms crossed against his chest, a slightly murderous look on his face.

“You think I’m joking?” his voice was low, almost predatory.

“Um. Yeah?”

“Okay, then, what do you think it was?” the man tilted his head slightly to the side, waiting for him to answer.

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t a _vampire_.”

“Why not?”

“Because they don’t _exist_!” Eren exclaimed. The man was quiet for a moment, cocking his jaw to the side. Eren started to feel the beginnings of uncomfort when the man glared knives at Eren, the orbs almost glowing.

Then, Eren found himself pushed, more like tripped, onto the ground. The man no longer stood in the middle of the room, but rather on the other end of it, next to the wall. Eren blinked and he felt himself getting dragged back like a rag-doll until his back hit the wall behind him. He looked up and saw the stranger blink into existence not two inches from his face, one of the man’s arms slamming into the wall by Eren’s head.

Eren seemed frozen. All of that had to have happened within two seconds, at least, but then again he wasn’t keeping count. The man’s eyes were magnified at this distance, and Eren could definitely tell that they _were_ in fact shining, and it wasn’t just a trick of the light. He could feel the stranger’s cold breath come from his parted mouth. His eyes widened when looked at the bared teeth.

The top canines were elongated and curved, as well as the tooth directly behind them. Eren could see the tips of his bottom canines, so he guessed that it was the same pattern there as well. At least they weren’t black like the woman’s.

Eren’s breath froze in his throat. He slowly looked back up to look into the man’s less-intense eyes, the grey hue of them almost passing for normal. He swallowed thickly, trying to find his voice again, but it was rather difficult when the fanged creature was within easy mauling distance.

As if sensing this, the man leaned back, retracting his arm and sitting on his heels. Eren blinked a few times.

“What’s your name?” his voice was weak. The man’s eyebrow flinched, the only indication of surprise at Eren’s first question.

“Levi.”

Levi. Eren made sure to remember that. He nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

“Eren,” he responded. Levi nodded back. Eren didn’t mean to stare, but it was rather difficult not too, especially when he had just been told that vampires exist (seemingly) by an actual vampire. He cleared his throat, trying to fill up the silence that had taken place.

“So, that thing…” he started.

“Vampire,” Levi finished.

“And you?”

“Also vampire.”

“Are you an Auf-something, too?” Eren asked. Levi shook his head. A bit of tension left Eren’s shoulders. He didn’t know what an Auf-whatever entailed, but he sure as hell didn’t want to find out. Levi stood, looking to the non-existent window. Extremely bright light poked up above the horizon, giving the apartment a glow-y look to it. Eren followed his gaze to the sun.

“Can you not be in the sunlight, or something?”

Levi looked back at him, his eyebrows brought together.

“No.” He blinked at the brunet as if he was asking the dumbest question possible.

“Oh, well, I just figured, because of the whole, ya know,” Eren gestured to Levi.

Eren could’ve sworn he heard Levi mumble, “This is why I hate Hollywood.”

Levi started walking towards the window, his hands in his pockets. Eren watched him before standing up quickly. He took a few steps towards the raven. Was he just going to leave?

“H-hey, where are you going?” Levi turned back to look at him over his shoulder.

“Home?” Levi said in a questioning tone. Eren mentally face-palmed. Of course Levi would have a house, it wasn’t like he lived in the sewers, or something. Or unless that _was_ what Levi meant by home. Eren shook his head quickly; he was overthinking this waaay too much.

“Right, right.” Eren rubbed the back of his neck. Levi turned back around and made his way to the window frame. “Wait,” Levi turned back around, his face looking unamused, “Will I ever see you again?” The man was quiet for a beat before he answered forebodingly.

“For your sake, you’d better hope not.” And with that, he hopped out the window like it was nothing and was gone, leaving Eren to stare out into oncoming morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: after I had written the first chapter, I was looking up types of vampires and found a wikipedia (imtrashsorry) page about Aufhockers, and they were just like how I had written the woman vamp ooo
> 
> coincidences ~


	4. Ira Furor Brevis Est

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally 80% of this chapter is a fight scene and i'm not even sorry  
> \--  
> my tumblr: r-ebelcas.tumblr.com

Days passed, which then turned into weeks. Eren had gotten his apartment fixed, not without questioning glares from the landlord, and he had gone on with his life. He hadn’t told anyone about Levi, nor about the creature in the forest. Mikasa would watch him with a worried expression from Eren’s jumpier demeanor, but never commented on it.

Since that night, Eren never saw or heard from Levi again. He didn’t know what to expect from the whole ordeal, but complete silence wasn’t necessarily it. Eren just told himself to just forget about Levi, but the words the vampire had spoken to him still haunted him.

_“For your sake, you’d better hope not.”_

That simple phrase led to Eren having many sleepless nights. What did he mean by that? Was Levi a threat to him?

He wasn’t sure on whether not seeing him was a good or not, but either one made Eren anxious.

Now, about two weeks, almost a month, later, Eren was working a shift at the diner. The sun was on its way to set, its light casting an array of orange and pink on the lake by the restaurant. Eren was preoccupied with taking customer’s orders and bringing out food. It was fairly busy today, background noise filled the comfortably crowded building.

Eren checked the clock. There was a new employee that he had to train today, but by going by the time, he wasn’t sure if they were even going to show up. Eren sighed and finished clearing off a table from plates and glasses. Just about the time when Eren began to give up hope, he saw the door open, a young man stepping in.  He looked around until he made eye contact with Eren, and started heading over to him.

“Hey, are you Eren?” he asked him.

“I am. How can I help you?” Eren tucked the rag he used to wipe down the table in his apron pocket.

“Ah, sorry I’m late, but I’m here for the new position,” he held out his hand to Eren, “I’m Jean.” Eren took his hand and shook it, replying with a ‘Nice to meet you’ in return. Eren showed him to the back where Jean hung up his jacket and Eren supplied him with an apron in return.

Jean was a lanky fellow, standing a few inches taller than Eren. His face seemed to be frozen in a smirk that said he was better at everyone in something (much to Eren’s slight annoyance). He had an odd haircut; the sides and back shaved close to his head, but the top longer in a little swoosh and bleached. It was strange, but it worked for him.

Eren quickly ran through the basics. He taught him how to work the register and how to fill out the orders. Jean was a quick learner, making Eren’s job easier on him. So far, Eren hadn’t ran across anything about Jean that rubbed him the wrong way, but there were moments where Eren would get an odd feeling from him. There were several times were Eren would be demonstrating something and look up to Jean to see him staring blankly back. Little things like that unnerved him, but Eren just pushed it off as him overanalyzing situations due to the crazy couple of nights he had recently.

They worked alongside each other, Eren showing him the ropes and Jean doing his part. The diner started to empty out once the sun had been down for a while. The few remaining stragglers left, leaving the restaurant in a peaceful lull.

At closing time, Eren was wiping down a table when he heard the bell above the door ring. The kitchen had closed already, and it was now only Jean and him finishing cleaning up. So knowing this, he looked up to see how he would have to kick out. His breath caught in his throat.

Standing just in the doorway, in all of his ominous glory, was Levi.

Eren paused what he was doing unintentionally. The words Levi had told him were ringing like warning bells in his head now. Eren was frozen, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes wide. The look on Levi’s face was purely murderous. And it was directed towards Eren.

The real target for his death glare, however, was behind Eren.

The brunet heard nothing, but felt a rush of air come at him from behind, and a cold hand wrap around his throat. Eren gasped in surprise, trying to catch up with what was happening. Another arm wrapped around his chest from behind.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the only other person in the room: Jean.

The taller man had Eren in a death-grip-like vice, that stupid smirk on his face. Jean was staring unblinkingly at Levi, combating his stare with his own.

Eren could feel his pulse in his throat from where Jean had latched onto. He tried moving, squirming his way in an attempt to break Jean’s hold, but that only resulted in Jean constricting Eren even tighter, cutting off easy air access. He could feel his ribs push inwards from the force, causing him to gasp again in pain.

Levi had still not moved, but, somehow, his glare got more intense. It was beginning to frighten Eren, and he wasn’t even the target of it. His eyes started to dimly glow, his pupils constricting.

“Oh, so you did show up! I was wondering if you were going to make this easy for me,” Jean commented. Eren could feel his nails start to cut into his throat.

“Drop him.” Levi’s voice was dangerously low. The simple command was a threat itself. Eren could see Jean grin, elongated teeth similar to Levi’s too close to Eren’s face for comfort.

_Great, another vampire._

“Or what?” Jean growled out, his face looking too joyful for the situation.

Suddenly, Eren’s hair was pushed back from a powerful breeze passing right by him. Behind him, Jean’s head threw back. The momentum caused his grip to loosen, but his nails dug deeper into Eren’s throat, and dragged back, leaving four long slices from the side of his throat to his collarbone. Ignoring the red-hot pain that flared up from his cut skin, he threw himself down, breaking out of Jean’s hold and falling to the floor.

Behind him, Levi caught himself before he slammed through the wall, his fist adorned with specks of dark blood from bashing into Jean’s face. He turned around, his eyes now glowing the red and grey that they did.

Jean quickly gained his footing. He stumbled before standing back up. A bead of dark, almost black, blood ran from Jean’s nose. He raised his hand and smeared it off with the back of his hand. Facing Levi, his shoulders heaved with forceful breaths.

Meanwhile, Eren had tried crawling away, but just ended up scooting away and under the shelter of a table. He winced and barely touched one of the gashes on his neck, pulling back a hand painted with fresh blood. Biting his lip, he tried to put pressure on it as much as he could, the pain intensifying.

Jean let out growl, his mouth wide and lips pulled back. It sounded guttural, ghoulish. It was a noise that sparked fear in Eren that he had never felt before; the primitive instinct of prey.

Levi retaliated with a roar of his own, baring his each of his lethal teeth. His was more yowl-y; it lashed out like a whip. Jean snarled and lunged at the other vampire. Levi met him half-way and the two of them clashed in the middle. Levi gained the upper-hand from his momentum, and was able to take Jean to the ground. The taller male’s back slammed into the linoleum floor with a smack.

The two of them landed right into the eye-sight of a scared-shitless Eren. He tried pushing back farther away from the fight, but he was already as far back as he could go. He watched as Levi wrapped his hands around Jean’s throat, his forearms bulging from pressure he squeezed with.

Jean rasped, trying to get air into his lungs. His amber and silver eyes glowed furiously, Levi’s blaring right back. Jean started to claw at Levi, aiming for his face and whatever kind of skin that was exposed to him. Levi extended his arms, and managed to hold his head up just out of reach for him to do any serious harm.

Running out of options and oxygen, panic started to set in with Jean, and he turned his abuse to Levi’s arms.  He latched onto his exposed forearms, his pointed nails dug into Levi’s titanium-like skin like they were made out of clay. Black blood began oozing from underneath Jean’s fingers and running down to Levi’s hands.

Levi’s arms began to shake and his face was beginning to twist up in pain. Feeling the pressure alieving from his windpipe, Jean started to let out a low, grumbly growl, to which Levi responded similarly. As the less and less Levi could grip, both of their growls escalated to rivaling roars.

Finally, now able to breathe, Jean ripped Levi’s hands off of him, causing him to scrape his nails into the skin on his own neck, and flipped them around. Levi slammed into the ground on his side, the force causing a crack to split through the floor. Stunned from the impact, the raven did nothing for a split moment and try to blink the sudden blurriness in his eyes away.

Eren’s head began to spin. Blood began to seep through the cracks of his fingers, and it wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Both of the vampires in the room were painfully aware of the amount of blood loss he was experiencing, the mere scent of it alone driving both of them back to their feral selves.

In an instant, Jean was on the raven, one of his hands pressing onto the side of his head into the floor. He pulled his lips back, his fangs revealed. All at once, he lunged for Levi’s throat. Eren could hear the squelch of his fangs drive themselves into the other vampire’s flesh.

Levi let out a roar that rattled Eren’s bones. The vampire’s nails scratched into the floor, leaving deep trenches trailing behind them. He squirmed, making it difficult for the taller vampire to deliver the finishing blow. In his wriggling, Levi managed to get his leg underneath Jean, and, with abandon, he slammed his knee into his gut as hard as he could. Jean’s fangs ripped through Levi’s skin as he was kicked upwards.

Now, more beast than human, Levi quickly scrambled into a crouch. Jean slid on his side, his feet trying to get traction. The raven didn’t make a sound as he lunged at the other. The impact of him latching onto Jean was enough to send a crack break down into the counter that the two landed on. They were a flurry of claws and teeth, snapping and swiping at each other. In the mess of attack, Levi managed to get ahold of Jean’s shoulder, his fangs hooked into the vampire’s cold flesh. Once again panicking, Jean turned on the defensive and focused solely on getting away from the now animalistic Levi. He pushed on the raven’s face, and was able to get Levi off of him long enough to slide out from underneath him. Jean wasted no time in running from Levi. He hopped onto one of the window sills and smashed the glass out with his elbow. He turned around one last time, breathing heavily, dark blood decorating his pale skin.

They both stared each other down with their glowing eyes. Jean’s face broke out into a wide grin, his bloodied fangs poking out over his lips. And he was gone. The taller vampire jumped from the window, and was gone from sight in the blink of an eye.

Levi glared daggers at where the other vampire had stood just moments before. Blood that was his and not painted his skin like war paint. He took a minute to ground himself. He closed his eyes and inhaled harshly, trying to get his breathing pattern under control again. He unclenched his fists and rolled his neck a few times. When he opened them again, his eyes were more normal than they were during the fight, but they still had streaks of crimson in them.

He sniffled and wiped some of Jean’s blood from his mouth. He felt disgusting.

“He’s gone, kid, you can come out now,” Levi called out to Eren who was still holed up underneath the table. Silence was his response. Levi narrowed his eyes and walked the short steps over to him. He kicked Eren’s exposed foot, it limply bounced back. “Eren?”

He kneeled down, a hand gripping the side of the table. Eren was leaned back against the wall, his right arm laid across his lap, his hand coated with the blood from his neck. His head hung to the right, exposing the gashes on his neck. His eyes were closed and his skin pale.

“Shit,” Levi cursed to himself. He grabbed Eren’s legs and pulled him closer so he could get ahold of the unconscious human. Eren’s body was limp as it slumped from the wall to the ground. Levi pulled him fully out from under the table.

The wounds on his neck had nearly stopped by now, but they still glistened with the threat of opening back up again. Levi could hear Eren’s faint heartbeat, so he wasn’t too concerned about that. Running a hand through his black hair, he growled to himself. This night was just getting better and better by the minute.

Levi left Eren on the ground for a moment as he hunted down Eren’s jacket. Quickly finding it by Jean’s, he grabbed it and rummaged through the deep pockets, locating his jingling keys. Holding the keys in one hand and draping the jacket on his other arm, he made his way back into the main part of the diner.

Eren laid peacefully in the middle of the wreckage. Glass was shattered around him and the floors were torn up and split open in several spots. Trails of vampires’ blood splattered against the white walls and floors. Levi’s skin crawled at the disarray of the place.

Trying to ignore the war-zone around him, Levi made his way over to Eren. He crouched down and easily lifted the brunet’s torso up off of the ground. Eren’s head lolled back, making it difficult for Levi to get the jacket around his shoulders. The vampire tugged the jacket tightly around Eren, in hopes of trying to keep his body warm as much as possible.

Levi stood, taking Eren with him. He heaved the limp human over his shoulder, hanging onto the back of his calves. He stepped over the shards of glass and the overall mess scattered throughout the building. He flipped off the light switch, engulfing the diner in darkness, and headed out to Eren’s car.

-+-

One of the first things Eren was aware of was the feeling of something cold and wet on the side of his neck. He couldn’t necessarily identify what it was because, along with the coldness, came a light numb feeling.

Eren’s fingers closed into a loose fist. He felt his sheets between his fingers, and could feel his pillow beneath his head. He shifted his head around, trying to clear away the fog in his mind. The cold wet thing stopped as soon as he moved.

He tried to open his eyes, but he felt like he had just been ran over by a train. The simple act of opening his eyelids felt like it took all the power he could muster just to see through a squint. Throbbing aches came like waves through his brain and pricking the back his eyeballs. He let out something that was akin to a groan, but sounded too raspy.

Finally, just sucking it up and willing to deal with the pain, he opened his eyes enough to see clearly. Early morning light peeked in through his curtains. His door was open but all of the lights in the house were off. His head was turned to the right, looking out towards his window. Sniffling, he turned his head the opposite direction, and almost had a heart attack.

Levi, bruised and cut up, was sitting mere inches from Eren’s bed. His eyes were wide and almost abnormally large, his pupils heavily dilated; there was just a small line of grey around the enlarged black swallowing up his eyes. His stare was completely still, yet Eren could see his hands shaking. The vampire’s stare was locked on Eren, his unblinking, emotionless, _unwavering_ gaze starting to send fear scratch up his back.

“L-Levi?” Eren croaked out. Almost as if a switch had turned off, Levi’s eyes shot back to normal, his pupils going back down the pinpoints that they usually were. He leaned backwards, giving Eren his personal space back. He cleared his throat and sniffled, not looking at Eren directly. Eren watched, not moving. It was safe to say he felt fairly vulnerable at the moment, considering he couldn’t move his head without feeling nauseous or lightheaded. So if he had to, he didn’t think he could defend himself.

Levi stood from the chair that was put beside Eren’s bed. Wincing, Eren slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. His head swam for a second, but quickly settled after. He rubbed the heaviness from his eyes with the heels of his hands. For a split second, he almost forgot, but the memory of Jean made his hand fly to the side of his neck. His fingertips gingerly inspected the skin. The previously long, jagged, deep claw marks were now scarred over. Raised, bumpy lines sealed up his torn flesh.

“H-how long was I out for?” Eren’s voice was slightly weak. Levi was now standing at the foot of the bed, the back of his hand covering his mouth. The vampire looked up at him when as he talked.

“A few hours,” Levi shrugged. He lowered his hand from his face and opted to cross his arms instead.

_A few hours?_ Eren looked at the raven with a perplexed expression. How could he have been able to heal that quickly?

Eren spun so that his legs were hanging off the side of the bed and his feet were flat on the carpeted floor. He rubbed his neck unconsciously, his fingers running over the raised lines.

“So,” he began, “Jean, huh?” Levi glanced over to him. The vampire simply hummed in response. The raven had moved from the spot where he was standing. He was completely, almost awkwardly, still. Eren didn’t notice this however, as he was staring off into space, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why?” was all he could say on the matter.

“It’s complicated,” Levi said in response. An airy chuckle left Eren as he bowed his head.

“Of course it is,” he mumbled into his hands.  He stayed like that for a few moments, recuperating. Levi was looking towards the window, mind distant. When Eren looked up, he looked to the vampire. The only time Eren had ever seen Levi was when the sun was down, but now, in the morning sun, he got his first good look at him. He was pale, that was a given, but now that he was in direct sunlight, Eren could see the difference between vampire and human skin. Levi’s was completely smooth (save for the bruises and cuts), and was pulled taught over his bones and muscles. It seemed like the only use vampires had for skin was as armor. His lips were pale and thin, and they expertly hid his fangs, as there was no indication that he even had any. In the sunlight, Levi looked more like a marble statue than that of a person.

Eren could see the tips of Levi’s ears twitch and flick, responding to the noises outside that Eren couldn’t pick up with his human senses. His eyes were still the same light and clear color, but he noticed that they were a fine ice-blue instead of a grey. Eren didn’t notice that the only reason he saw this was because Levi was staring back at him with a rather confused expression until well after it became awkward. Eren jolted himself out of his trance-like state, trying to play it cool by rubbing the back of his neck, but obviously failing.

Levi didn’t say anything on the matter, as he suddenly remembered why he stuck around this long in the first place. He reached down into his boot and pulled out a carefully concealed weapon. Eren’s eyes met it as soon as the first glint of the metal caught his attention. Levi took the weapon and held it with practiced ease in his hand.

It was a dagger, with an onyx handle and a bone-white blade. There were intricate carvings in the side of the serrated blade, some of them going down to the handle as well. The blade ended in a slight curve at the tip of its pointy end.

Levi turned it around in his hand a time or two, scanning it for anything out of the ordinary. He then flipped it around so that he was holding the blade and the handle was held out to Eren. The human was still for a few moments, fatigued mind trying to compute what Levi was wordlessly suggesting. With a hesitant hand, he eventually reached up and took the dagger from the raven’s hand, the handle fitting nicely in his own. It was lighter than he expected, the handle having the most weight, making it be distributed comfortably. But what really caught his attention was the blade itself. It seemed to carry a lethal aura about it, the jagged serrations made it easy for Eren to imagine the pain the dagger could inflict.

“What is this?” Eren finally asked.

“It is a very old weapon. It was forged from vampire tooth, and it is one out of few that is actually capable of harming a vampire,” Levi answered as if he were reading from a script. It made Eren wonder how many times he himself had heard that.

Knowing this new information, it made him respect the dagger, and get a little grossed out all at the same time. “But why give it to me?”

“Because I won’t be around all the time to save your sorry ass. It’s not my job to baby-sit you,” Levi said coldly.

Eren looked up at him. “Well I never asked you to, now did I?” he sassed back. “No, in fact, I didn’t ask for any of this, so the last thing I need is attitude from _you_.” He pointed the dagger in a non-threatening way as he spoke, as if it would make his point any more clear.

Levi stilled, stare predatory. Eren felt his breath get stuck in his throat as soon as he realized who exactly he was going off on. He watched with wide eyes, slightly scared at what Levi would do. But instead, Levi just rolled his eyes and looked away, leaving Eren feeling confused and a little on edge.

“Well, anyways, that’s what it is. You should keep it on you,” Levi informed. Eren nodded, knowing that the vampire would pick up on his acknowledgement. He flipped the blade around in his hand, observing little things about it. There were carvings of shapes and symbols intricately carved into the handle. Some of them reminded Eren of the symbol on the ceiling of his living room, but more detailed aesthetically made.

“Hey, what do these-“ Eren was cut short when he looked up to see no one else was in room anymore. The window was open, leaving Eren rolling his eyes at the long-gone and melodramatic vampire. He laid back on his back, lifting the blade up and seeing how the light glinted off of it.

-+-

There was silence that filled the room that in itself held lethal premonitions. Jean stood as still as possible, his head down, eyes looking at the dusty floor. The only light in the room shined directly above him, shadowing in the large figure sitting in front of him. From the shadows all around, he could see the silver dots of the others’ eyes, mocking him.

“Is that so?” a low, deep voice snaked from the sitting figure. Jean nodded, keeping his eyes down.

“Yes, sir, Levi Ackerman was there.” The wounded vampire could hear the slightest of shuffling come from the large vampire as he lifted his hand up to place a hefty cigar between his lips. Sparing a peek, Jean could see the other’s features from the red light that flared from the end of the cigar. The man’s scarred face and gleaming red eyes bore into Jean. As soon as he accidentally made eye-contact with the vampire, Jean gaze shot back down, studying the wooden floor between his shoes.

“And you’re telling me that you couldn’t take him down?” the alpha vampire’s eel-like voice mused.

“You’d expect me to take on Levi?” a nervous chuckle left Jean, sparing another glance up. He wrung his hands together.

“What? Was that runt too much for you to handle?” A heavily clawed hand was visible as the alpha knocked some ashes from his cigar and onto the ground.

Jean’s mouth gaped open like a fish out of water as he stumbled for words. He began to feel panic set it and his survival instincts switch on. He could see the other vampire watch him with amusement as he squirmed trying to find excuses.

Finally deciding he had tortured the poor soul long enough, the alpha stood, making Jean and the other vampires that slinked around in the shadows of the room cower. At his full standing height, he was about 6’10, all long limbs and lean muscle. He stepped forward, into the light. He was clad in a leather trench coat which fell to the mid-point of his calves. And around his neck dangled a thin piece of twine adorned with fangs of other fallen vampires. The fangs had an almost metallic twang to them as they knocked against each other with each step he took. His face, however, was still shadowed in from his wide-brimmed hat that sat low on his head. The only truly distinguishable thing from his face were the two glowing red orbs that were his eyes. They cut through the dark like headlights.

The alpha took slow, long steps towards Jean, who was trying his hardest not to run away for dear life. The tall vamp stopped just an arm’s length from the cowering Jean. He tilted his head to the side, taking in the completely submissive stance the bloodied vampire was taking on. He fought back a grin, resulting in a sneer.

“Well that’s just a damn shame, ain’t it?” he asked to no one in particular. He raised his hand and placed a clawed finger underneath Jean’s chin, forcing him to look up at him. He got up in Jean’s personal space. From this distance, Jean could see the alpha’s face clearly now, and he was too scared shitless to do or say anything, so he stood frozen, staring back at his red eyes. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any room for those who are weak.” The alpha retracted his hand and leaned back. Without another glance, he turned back around and headed back to his chair.

“Have at ‘im.”

All at once the room revved up with predatory yowls and laughter. The on looking vampires in the room closed in on Jean like a pack of hyenas on wounded prey. Jean’s terrified expression was lost to the swarm of attacking vampires. Screeches and roars filled the room.

The alpha paid no mind to the bloodshed happening not 10 feet from him, and instead lit another cigar, slouching in his seat.

_Levi, hmm? Dear nephew just doesn’t know when to call it quits._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooo hoo


End file.
